NOTE: I was planning on calling this fic 'Two Sex-Scenes and a Funeral', but since I can't write sex-scenes I have chosen the title 'Through The Ages'. So there.

DEDICATED TO: Love, for unknowingly giving me the idea.

A small fire burned in the darkness. But even though it was small its light was far more bright and warm than the cold glittering of the stars or the pale shine of the moon. Next to the fire sat a girl. She was rather small and her dark hair was long and dirty. She wore a strange assortment of furs and hides. It was clear that the only reason she wore them was to keep the cold out. The features of her faces were rough and seemingly unfinished, but there could be no denying that she was very beautiful. Her dark eyes stared into the fire and if anyone were to really look into them one would see the small glint of intelligence. There was abstract thought in those eyes, but it was crude and underdeveloped. But even so, there was an intelligence there that was probably greater than that of her people. She looked up when someone else joined her at the fire. This girl too had dark hair, her eyes looked equally intelligent and she was very beautiful. But that was where the comparison was likely to end. The girl who sat next to the fire looked like just a little more than Cro-Magnon, yet not quite human. The newcomer, on the other hand, was fully human.

"Where am I?" The newcomer asked.

The girl near the fire looked up. "Here." She said.

"I know that." Said the girl. "But where is 'here' exactly?"

The other girl had to think about that. "Not sure. This not real, but not unreal either."

"Could you be a little more specific?" The newcomer asked. Then she looked at the girl a little closer and noticed the features that she had only seen in history books. "Who are you anyway?"

The girl stood up. She was a great deal shorter than the other girl, but somehow her size seemed very irrelevant.

"Ara." Said the girl. "You?"

"Sam."

"Sam." The girl repeated. "Good. Must come with me. Ara must show you."

"Show me?" Sam asked. "Show me what?"

"Must come. Important."

"Well, since this is probably a dream anyway, I don't see why not."

"Dream." Ara said. "This not dream."

"If you say so." Sam said.

~~~~~

From a small frozen plain at night Sam and Ara suddenly found themselves in a forest during the day. They walked carefully between the trees and the shrubs until they stumbled across a clearing with a small lake. Several animals were drinking from the water. Sam recognised none of them.

"Where are we?" Sam asked.

"Forest."

"OK, _when_ are we?"

"When?" Ara repeated. "Today for me. Many days before yesterday for you."

"The past then." Sam said. She looked at her smaller companion. "A very great deal back in time. This has to be a dream."

"Not dream." Ara insisted. "Now watch."

"Watch what?"

But Ara wouldn't answer. Instead she simply kept staring at the lake and the animals. Sam, having nothing better to do, decided to watch as well. After a few minutes all Hell broke loose. One of the animals near the lake suddenly had an arrow through its throat. The other animals screamed and howled in panic. All of them quickly dashed away. All except the animal that got hit. It was lying on the ground, struggling for breath, but sure to die. From the surrounding forest a girl appeared. She had a crude bow in one hand and an even cruder knife in the other. She looked very familiar.

"Ara, is that you?" Sam asked.

"Yes." Said Ara.

"How is this...?" Sam sighed. "Never mind."

The other Ara walked over to her fallen prey and with her knife she slit the animal's throat quickly and efficiently, ending its struggle against death. Ara then hauled the animal up onto her shoulders and walked back into the forest again.

"Follow?" Sam asked.

"Follow."

"Gee, what a surprise."

~~~~~

Sam and Ara followed Ara out of the forest and towards something resembling a very small village. There were about ten small, primitive huts. Sam had only seen these huts in history books as well. She didn't know how they were built or even what they were called. She did remember that the things were sturdy enough to survive a storm and in the end, that's all that matters when it comes to homes. Ara, with her prey still slung over one shoulder walked over to one of the huts and stepped inside. The inside of the hut was small, but not as small as Sam had expected. There was a small fire pit in the centre and a small venting hole in the ceiling above it. The remains of several animals were lying against one side of the hut. At the other side there lay carefully arranged leaves, grass and a few hides which Sam assumed served as a bed. There was another girl with blonde hair lying on the bed. Unlike both Ara's, however, she was stark naked. Sam couldn't really blame her since it was pretty hot and stuffy in the hut, but that didn't prevent her from blushing as the girl stood up and showed her body for the whole world to see.

"Who is that?" Sam asked, pointing towards the blonde girl.

"Keto." Ara whispered. And in that one word Sam immediately knew what the girl meant to her. Nothing short of everything.

Ara dumped the animal on the floor and tightly hugged the other girl.

"Good hunt?" Keto asked.

"Good hunt." Ara confirmed.

"Ara strong." Keto said. There was an almost cheerfully mocking quality to her voice.

"Ara strong." Ara said. "That why Ara hunt alone."

"Keto weak." Said Keto, smiling. "Keto not hunt. Ara protect Keto?"

Sam suddenly got the uncomfortable feeling that the two girl were practising a sort of ritual. A ritual that would probably soon involve a lot more nakedness.

"Ara always protect Keto."

There was a kiss and an almost immediate discarding of clothes. Sam's prediction became fully realised when the two girls hungrily attacked each other. Shouts of pure lust and ecstasy could soon be heard. Sam quickly turned away, her face redder than it had ever been in her entire life.

"Watch." Ara said.

"No thank you." Sam answered. "Can we go now?"

"Why you red?" Ara asked.

"Because those two are having full out sex right behind me."

"That bother you?"

"Pretty much."

"Why?"

"Because..." Sam hesitated as she realised that she was basically talking to a cavewoman. One that was not familiar with the term 'prudish' or 'appropriate behaviour'. How could she explain to someone like that that it was simply not done to watch two people have wild sex with each other.

"Can we just go now?" Sam pleaded.

"Wait. Must see more."

"I've already seen more than enough."

"Wait."

There were more shouts, more panting and finally two loud screams before a deafening silence claimed the hut. Hesitantly Sam turned around. The two girls lay on the primitive bed, their bodies intertwined, their hands on each other's arms. Well, except for one, but Sam chose to ignore that hand. The girls looked at each other, smiling. Despite the fact that Sam knew that the girls had had very wild and rough sex mere seconds ago she was also aware of a certain gentleness between the girls. A gentleness that, she realised painfully, she did not have in her life.

"Now we go."

~~~~~

Ara and Sam ended up in a small room. For some reason it did not surprise Sam at all to find she was in a bedroom. A very luxurious bedroom at that. The walls were white, the bed large and soft. The bronze mirror that lay on a small table next to the bed indicated that they were still in the past. That is the say, the past for Sam, but the future for Ara.

"Do you know where we are?" Sam asked.

"People call ground Rome."

"Rome?" Sam asked. "What are we doing here?"

"Watch." Ara answered simply.

"It's not going to involve any more sex, is it?" Sam asked.

Ara didn't answer. Sam groaned mildly.

It did not come as surprise to Sam that soon two girls entered the bedroom. One with brown hair, one with blonde. The brunette wore a lavish toga, her neck, hands and arms adorned with jewellery. The blonde wore a simple white tunic and walked behind the brunette with her eyes fixed to the ground. The brunette sat down on a small stool while the blonde servant closed the door. The servant then carefully removed several objects out of the hair of the brunette, letting the long hair fall over her shoulders. The servant took out a comb and started brushing. The brunette sighed happily and leaned slightly back.

"Caranus seemed friendly." The servant said. Her voice was soft and not used to talking ver loud.

"Yes." Said the brunette. "It seems my father is desperate to see me marry."

"He is only looking out for your best interests."

"Sometimes I wonder about that." The brunette answered. "It is you who I want to be with."

The servant said nothing, but continued combing her mistress' hair.

"It is impossible." Said the blonde finally.

"It should not be impossible. Venus brought us together for a reason."

"It was not Venus, mistress, it was poverty. You know full well I have been sold into service."

"You make it sound like you're a slave."

"I am a slave." Said the blonde.

"You are not a slave!" The brunette snapped.

"If you say so mistress." The blonde said sighing.

"And please, I have told you numerous times before to call me by my name when we're alone."

"If you wish, Medina." The blonde said.

The brunette smiled. Under the attentive care of her hair by her servant, Medina's mind obviously started to wander.

"Maybe I should get married." She said.

"Oh." Said the blonde, hiding a sense of disappointment.

"I think, perhaps, that Tamus would be a good husband."

"Tamus?" The blonde servant asked, a little surprised.

"Anything wrong with that, my love?" Medina asked.

The servant blushed. "Nothing. It is just... I have been told that Tamus seems to prefer boys over girls."

"And I prefer you over anyone else." Medina said. "I think it would be a suiting arrangement. I can insist, based on some feminine whim, that you become my personal servant in our new house. Then you can and will be with me forever, while Tamus can easily go and search for the boys he so likes without anyone making too much of a fuss."

"And everything will go like Venus intended it?" The servant asked.

"Exactly." Medina said. "I think I will go to Her temple tomorrow for a small offering. If She truly smiles on us, it would be only fitting for us to show Her our gratitude."

Sam groaned. She didn't know why she was here or how she got be here, but she was fairly positive that it was not so that she could look at women having sex together.

"Can we go?" Sam asked. "I don't have to see this part."

"No." Ara said resolutely. "You know not what see and what not see. You know not what important. Ara knows what important."

The blonde servant carefully removed all her mistress' jewellery. The last item she unclasped was a brooch that kept the toga in place. Without the brooch it fell to the ground, completely revealing Medina's body. The servant then knelt down to untie Medina's sandals. After she had done that she stood up again.

"Was there anything else you require?" She asked.

Medina didn't answer. Instead she simply kissed the girl. After several seconds she broke the kiss and distanced herself a little.

"Undress yourself and join me." Medina simply instructed as she lay down on the bed.

The servant slowly undressed herself. Medina was obviously mesmerised by the intimate spectacle before her. Her civilised Roman manners seemed to slowly melt away as lust overtook her. When the servant was done undressing and joined her mistress in bed Medina no longer had her lust under control. Forcefully Medina took control of her servant's body and used it as she pleased, much to the servant's delight.

But here too, there was gentleness. And again, Sam found herself missing it.

"You learning?" Ara asked.

"I think so." Sam said. "Can we please go now?"

"Yes. One more for you to see."

~~~~~

It was a small, sober room filled with simple, sober things. Sam had expected to see some foreplay first, but instead they arrived during the sex. The two girls in bed did not look entirely comfortable. There was a sense of guilt on their faces and what were supposed to be screams of ecstasy were nothing more than heavily repressed sighs. Sam looked away from the bed and around the room. A sense of dread came over her as she started to place the era.

"Where are we?" She asked again.

"Salem." Ara said sadly.

"I don't want to see this." Sam said immediately. "Not if it's going to end the way I think it's going to end."

"Must see." Ara said. "Must know."

"Know!?" Sam shouted. "Know what? All I've seen is girls have sex with each other. What is there to know about that?"

"You must know. Must change life. Cannot stay the way it is."

"I can decide for my own how my life is going to look like, thank you. You have nothing to say about that."

"Ara knows you stubborn. That why you must see."

"Please no. I'm not Scrooge and you're not the ghost of Christmas future. I don't want to see this."

"You must." Ara said resolutely.

~~~~~

And what Sam dreaded came to pass. The girls were found out. The town was in uproar. Humiliated, starved and beaten they appeared before the court of the church. They were called witches and worshippers of Satan. The verdict was clear before the trial had even begun. They were separated and imprisoned. The guards, with the full belief they had God on their side, tried to show the girls what was right. The rapes were often accompanied with more blows and punches. During the entire spectacle of humanity's evil Sam broke down. She cried and lamented, cursing the fact she could do nothing to help. Ara tried to comfort her by hugging Sam tightly.

"People stupid." She said. "But that before you. Now, people not stupid."

"No." Sam said. "People still stupid. People will always be stupid. Only in your time did they seem to have got it right." She sighed. "Do I have to see this?"

"Must see end."

"I was afraid you were going to say that."

~~~~~

The end was, of course, death. There is only one way to drive the evil out of witches and that is by burning it out of them. That it kills the witch in the process is of no concern to the townspeople, who can rest assured that their souls at least are saved. The two helpless girls were pushed and beaten towards the stakes. The onlookers sneered at them whenever they weren't throwing something at them. The judges stood by and looked, unmoved. Only when the girls were standing on the stakes did Sam clearly see what was done to them. Bruised and violated, the girls barely looked human any more. Suddenly gas chambers seemed merciful.

The torches came, the spectators cheered and the wood caught fire. The girls looked at each other. There was something triumphant about them. Despite everything that had been done to them, despite even the fact that they were about to die a very slow, very painful death they were happy. The people around them had broken everything, except the love they had for each other. And now, with nothing to lose, they showed it. And when the flames reached them and the pain began they were content in the knowledge that they had won after all.

~~~~~

"Now you know?" Ara asked.

Sam looked across the small fire under the night sky at her primitive companion.

"No." She answered. "The only thing I've realised is that I'm missing something you and the other girls have. Even the Salem ones."

"You know what?"

"Love."

"Love?" Ara asked.

Sam looked at her guide in surprise. Ara looked genuinely confused. And then Sam realised it. She had assumed all along that Ara knew pretty much the same things she did. But love is a very complex and very abstract concept. One that Ara's still underdeveloped mind cannot fully comprehend. Lust, on the other hand, is far more simple. Every human being knows the burning desire for the body of another. In Ara's simple world mutual lust is the closest thing to love. And that was why she had guided Sam to see people have sex together. Not to show them have sex, but to show Sam the meaning of love. Of course, even lust had become a lot more complex since Ara's time, but that was besides the point.

"I mean lust." Sam said quickly.

"No." Ara said firmly. "Not lust. Stupid Salem men in lust."

Sam sighed. "OK, let's just say I know what you mean, but that I can't find the right words to describe it."

Ara nodded, accepting Sam's explanation.

"But what am I supposed to do with it?" Sam asked.

"Ara showed you."

"Yeah, I know what you showed me, I just don't know what to do with it."

Ara shook her head. "No. Ara showed you. Ara showed Sam."

"What?"

Ara punched herself on the chest. "Ara's heart is Sam's heart."

"Are you saying that they were my ancestors?"

"No." Ara said. "Ara is Sam. Medina is Sam."

"Wait, are we talking souls here?" Sam asked.

"Souls." Ara said ponderously. "Yes, souls. Good word."

"Then... who was the other girl?" Sam asked.

"Mate of our soul." Ara said simply.

"I know. But who is she?"

"Keto."

"That was your time. Who is she in _my_ time?"

"Why you want know?" Ara asked.

"I need to know. I... want to be happy."

"Seems not so to Ara." Ara said smugly. "She in front of you, but you not see her. You fight. You fight more. You keep fighting. You make both unhappy."

It was another boring day at Kennedy High. Sam followed classes and worked diligently, but that was more out of habit than anything else. Three days had passed since her strange dream. Three days where she hoped beyond hope that Ara was right. That she _had_ a soulmate and that she _was_ right in front of her face. With a frustrated sigh Sam slammed her locker shut. She turned and looked straight into a beautiful face adorned with blonde hair.

"What do you want?" Sam asked rather unfriendly.

The blonde girl did not become angry, which was a rather unusual reaction.

"Are you Ara?" She asked.

Sam's anger melted away and she smiled. "That depends. Are you Keto?"

The blonde girl smiled as well. And in that moment Sam knew it. She had been right in front of her for years and she hadn't seen her. Well, now she saw her and she was going to take full advantage of it. After all, they still had a lot of happiness to catch up with. Amongst other things, of course.